1.Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer directories and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for adaptive computer directory and file selection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many computer file control systems employ a hierarchical filing structure which organizes data into files and directories. Directories may contain other directories, referred to as subdirectories, and/or files.
FIG. 1 shows a simplified typical hierarchical tree-type directory structure. This structure is called a "tree" because it resembles an upside down tree with the base or "root" of the tree at the top. Subdirectories are often referred to as "branches" of the tree and files are often referred to as "leaves" of the tree.
In FIG. 1, the root directory 100 contains a number of subdirectories 102-112 and files 114-122. The subdirectories 102-112 may contain other subdirectories and files and so on. In typical use, directories often contain files having similar kinds of data. The name of the directory is typically selected to be descriptive of the kinds of files and directories therein. For example, a WPDOCS directory 102 contains word processing documents and directories for holding specific categories of such documents. For example, a letters subdirectory 108 may contain only files which are letters. Memos could be stored in a memos subdirectory 110, patent applications in an applications subdirectory 112, and so on.
Custom structures of such directories are created to make the storing and retrieval of the files convenient. If the number of files stored is small and the number of different file kinds is either small or very well defined, this type of file storage structure works well. However, several problems arise when the number of files becomes large.
More particularly, many computer operating systems and applications programs present the user with a default directory when they access a file system for saving, retrieving, or viewing file directories. The default directory is either preconfigured by the user or is the most recent directory accessed. The use of a default directory, however, is sub-optimal if the number of files becomes large, because the tree becomes deep and it takes more time to access the end of a given branch in order to find a desired document if it is not in the default directory.
In addition, certain applications programs provide a list of the most recently accessed files. While this allows the user to again access the most recently used files, it is frequently the case that the user wishes to access a file in a different directory, which as discussed above, can be cumbersome.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a file and directory system in a computer system which provides an enhanced directory or file choice mechanism for accessing files or directories. More particularly, it is desirable to provide a directory system which presents the user with a directory based upon user access patterns over a predetermined period in order to present the user with a directory and/or file listing according to order of most frequent use.